Means for registering indices of fire control systems



May12,1931- I J. c. KARNES 1,804,992

MEANS FOR REGISTERING INDICES OF FIRE CONTROL .SXSTBIS -.=i1ed July 30. O 1928 Patented May 12, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFHCE JAMES C. KARNES, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK MEANS FOR REGISTERING INDICES OF FIRE CDNTROL SYSTEMS Application filed July 30, 1928.

Serial No. 296,356.

(GRANTED UNDER. THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883, AS AMENDED APRIL 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to means for registering indices of fire control systems.

In directing a gun at a target, the gun is moved in aximuth and elevation a predetermined amount which is ascertained and indicated by fire control instruments and the correct application of the setting to the gun is usually determined by visually registering the indices on the gun and the fire control instruments. The design of the gun and its mount and the character of the fire control equipment do not always afford a disposition of the indices which is favorable for visually securing accurate registering. This difficulty has led to the present improvement which affords great flexibility in design by an arrangement whereby the sense of touch is employed to register the indices.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a sighting system for guns, illustrating the application of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in rear elevation and partly in section, showing the arrangement of the index arms;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, sectional view, taken through the extremities of the index arms.

Fig. 4: is a view in side elevation, parts in section, of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation, and partly in section, illustrating a modification of the invention.

Referring to the drawing by numerals of reference:

There is shown in Fig. 1 a gun consisting of a carriage 5, a cradle 6 trunnioned in the carriage as at 7 and mounting a gun barrel 8. Associated with the carriage is a sighting system which is of the type movable independently of both the carriage and the gun in the transverse and longitudinal planes. Such a system comprises a mount 9 carrying a sighting instrument l0 and pointed as at 11 to a support 12, freely rotatable in a bracket 13 attached to the carriage.

The sight mount 9 may be shifted as a unit in the longitudinal plane by means of the gearing generally indicated at ll-and this movement results in angular displacement of an elevation indicator arm 15 fixed to the support 12. The displacement may be a measure of the angle of site or a correction for subsidence of the carriage. A further displacement corresponding to range elevation may be imparted to the arm 15 by separately displacing the support 12 through a mechanism 16 contained in the sight mount.

The arm 15 is arranged to register against an arm 17 which serves to indicate the position of the longitudinal axis of the gun and which, in the present case where the sight is not directly associated with the trunnion, is mounted on the bracket 13 and connected to the tipping parts by the link 18.

Adjustably secured to the end of the arm 15 by means of screws 19 is a block 20 whose inclined face 21 is aligned with the similarly inclined face 22 of the arm 17 to present a reading surface, on which are reference marks 23, to an operator whose position is on the side of the gun opposite from the sighting mechanism and whose task is to elevate the gun to its approximate position after lowering the gun for the purpose of loading. The block 20 carries threaded bolts 24; which are adjustable to allow for wear and which define a recess 25 between their spaced inner extremities, which recess opens towards the arm 17 and is adapted to receive a plunger 26 carried by the arm 17.

After the gun has been elevated to its approximate position, the operator who controls the final elevating hand wheel 27 presses in on the plunger 26 with one hand and actuates the hand wheel with the other, thereby elevating the gun until the plunger is in position to enter the recess 25. WVhen the parts are in this relation, the reference marks 23 Will be in alignment and the gun will be laid in elevation in exact conformity with the setting, prescribed by the fire control instruments.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5, the arm 17a carries the adjustable block 20a in which is mounted the plunger 26a. The plunger is arranged to act on the long arm of a lever 28 pivoted in the arm 15 and having its short arm 29 terminating in a rounded projection 30 normally urged by a spring 31' into a correspondingly shaped depression 32 in the block 20a.

The arrangement herein shown will afford considerable flexibility in the disposition of the final elevating hand wheel 28 and the indicator arms 15 and 17 and, furthermore, the indicator arms may be exactly matched under conditions of darkness by an operator wearing heavy gloves.

I claim:

1. The combination with a gun and a fire control system of an indicator arm displaceable by the fire control system independently of the gun, a second indicator arm movable with the gun, a plunger carried by one arm and capable of being moved into engagement with the other arm for indicating alignment of the indicator arms, there being cooperating reference marks on the arms readable from a position opposite from the position of the operator who controls the plunger.

2. The combination with a un andaafiuqn contrglsystalll imtlllip icator e 19 y theta of the gun, a second indicator fiurttega a normally retracted plunger carried by one arm and capable of being moved into engagement with the other arm for indicating alignment of the indicator arms. a

3. Means for registering indices including a setting arm and a gun arm movably mounted to pass each other, a plunger carried by one of the arms, a block carried by the other arm and adjustable in the direction of movement of said arm, said block provided with a recess for receiving the plunger, and members adjustable in the direction of movement of the arm for defining the recess.

4:. Means for registering indices including a setting arm and a gun arm movably mounted to pass each other, a plunger carried by one of the arms, and a block carried by the other arm and adjustable in the direction of movement of said arm, said block provided with a recess for receiving the plunger.

JAMES C. KARNES. 

